In this study the author examines the utility of social anthropological theory for the analysis o f education. The framework is equilibrium and processual analysis as developed b y the British "school" of social anthropology. After discussing the most relevant literature, the author proceeds to apply this structural approach to the case o f Chiapas and analyzes schools in two ecological zones within this state: the piedmont region of the Pacific Coast known as the Soconusco, and the highland Altos zone. This analysis is based on extensive fieldwork in the area over a two-year period.. The study also discusses the manner in which educational policy is shaped by the national and political structure by using concepts from political anthropology. The author concludes that the national educational system has failed to introduce major sociocultural change in the Altos region because it is not congruent with Indian allocation o f time and resources and because the Indian mode of production must be transformed in order to produce sociocultural change. This stands in clear contrast with the Soconusco region where schools are valued as a resource and regarded as effective political institutions. The conservatism of the Indians in the Altos region and the openness to change in the Soconusco are outcomes of different systems of adaptation within different ecological settings. The Mexican case is often considered as an example of a revolutionary mode o f education. In the caw o f the Soconusco, education did in fact for a period of time promote and secure tl e restructuring of society, albeit as part o f a more general process of transformation. Patterns of stratification, ethnic identity and cultural patterns did change as a result o f agrarian reform; education as an institution reflected and promoted the process of change. In the case o f the Altos de Chiapas, education has not been revolutionary in nature but reflects and helps to perpetuate the existing ethnic differentiation and economic stratification o f the region. The educational system has had little impact on the majority of Indian children and manages to siphon off the few students who do become acculturated. EDUCATION, MEXICO, SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, SO-CIAL CHANGE.This essay examines the utility of social anthropological theory for the analysis of education. Two foci of research in education may be isolated: the school i n its sociocultural milieu and the classroom within the school. The emphasis here is on the relation of the school to other social institutions, yet it i s argued that the two units of study can be handled within a unitary frame of theory. This framework i s the equilibrium and processual analysis developed by the British "school" of social anthropology.In a recent review of anthropological approaches to education, Sindell summarizes the analytical framework utilized :One studies the culturally and socially conditioned values, attitudes, cognitive styles, self conceptions, role expectations, and modes of interpersonal interaction which pupils, tea...

teaching aids A Lecture Room Digital MultimeterThis paper describes an instrument ca-] table of displaying numerical values of pH, temperature, pressure, and voltage over wide ranges. From it, even in a large lecture hall, students may take down unusually legible quantitative data from lecture experiments. The instrument has been designed to be simple and quick to operate while giving adequate response for the purpose.The heart of the equipment is a digital voltmeter giving four significant figures. To this have been added two main accessory units. One, a plug-in for the digital voltmeter which converts the parameters being measured linearly to a voltage driving the digital voltmeter, and the other, a slave display unit which duplicates the reading of the digital voltmeter on a scale large enough to be legible at distances up to 100 ft. Various probes or transducers are used in the measurement of pH, temperature, and pressure and these have been chosen to be small and easily manipulated so that they can be used in as versatile a manner as possible. The transducer for pressure measurements, however, is large enough so that variations in the level of a mercury manometer are visible to a class. Figure 1 shows the instrument demonstrating several capabilities.

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